Stop the World, I Want to Get Off
by KimCee1066
Summary: Zoe is in crisis, her erratic behavior spiraling out of control. Someone needs to step in to save her. Story picks up BEFORE Zoe and Wade sleep together at the end of 2x21.


**Stop the World, I Want to Get Off**

**Zoe is in crisis, her erratic behavior spiraling out of control. Someone needs to step in to save her. Story picks up BEFORE Zoe and Wade sleep together at the end of 2x21.**

Wade returned to the gatehouse around midnight, elated over the day's events. Twenty townspeople showed up to help make repairs at the Rammer Jammer so that he and Lemon could reopen. He shook his head in disbelief. After being the town pariah for breaking Zoe's heart, Wade never imagined people in town going out of their way to help him, let alone offer such generosity as he witnessed tonight. Wade was too jazzed to sleep. He had just popped open a beer when he heard a loud banging on his door.

Zoe, red eyed and somewhat inebriated, stood hands on hips on his deck. He threw open the door, but before he could utter a word, she stomped in, stabbing an index finger into his chest. "I hate you! I wish I had never met you!"

Surprised, Wade responded, "This again? I thought we were passed this?"

Defensively, Zoe warned, "Don't you make fun of me."

"I'm not!" Wade said soberly.

"You ruined my life." Zoe cried.

Wade sighed heavily and replied truthfully, "I certainly contributed, but you've done plenty in recent weeks to ruin your own life."

"How dare you!" Zoe screeched at him. Wade had a way of keeping Zoe honest about her choices, but she did not want to hear any of it tonight.

"Zoe, I know I hurt you, terribly," he admitted.

"Yes, you did!" She agreed, accusatorily.

"But your mad race to find Mr. Right and live happily ever after – that's on you," he continued.

Huffing, Zoe argued, "It's not a race."

"The operative word is MAD." He stated, pointedly.

Indignant, she yelled, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, you've been acting crazy." He yelled back.

Zoe tried to form words, but she was so irate she couldn't get any of them out. Then, Wade began ticking off the evidence, "flashing your boobs at spring break!"

"Oh! God! You know about that?!" Zoe squealed, covering her face in embarrassment.

"Chasing the perennially unavailable George Tucker and telling him that he's the one," Wade continued.

Frowning, Zoe nodded, "a decision I regretted almost immediately."

Lastly, Wade added, "crashing Prom to get your blind date to ask you out again?"

"Ya, that didn't turn out so well." Zoe winced.

"You're like a pin ball, bouncing from one zany antic to another. The dust barely settles before you start kicking it up again."

"Fine! Yes! I have been acting a bit - spontaneous. It's true." Zoe yelled in defeat.

"Spontaneous?!" Wade said harshly, "Zoe, you're outta control! And its gotta to stop! Now!"

"You don't get to tell me what to do"

"Well, someone needs to protect you from yourself!"

"And you're the one to protect me? This is all your fault."

The conversation had come full circle. Wade paused to let the ire in the room subside before he asked quietly, "Zoe, what do you want? What does the relationship you want look like?"

"I want what everybody wants." She replied, sadly. "Someone to love who will love me back."

Walking toward her and taking hold of her hands, he whispered "That someone is me."

"Wade," Zoe said regretfully.

"Zoe, we've been apart longer than we were together, and you're still not over the breakup. _I'm_ not over it." Wade explained. "That means something."

Unsure, Zoe asked "Like?"

"Like … We should be together." Wade stated assuredly.

Zoe stared at him. He could see the debate going on behind her eyes, and decided to put it all on the table.

Taking her by the shoulders, Wade admitted, "Zoe, I love you."

Her eyes widened as her breath seemed to stop.

He continued, earnestly, "I love you, and, Zoe … I think … I think you love me, too."

Tears filled her eyes. She lowered her head as they began to fall. Slowly she began to shake her head back and forth, whispering "no. no."

Wade lifted her chin to look into her tear filled eyes, "yes, Zoe."

"I'm so scared." Zoe whispered.

Her words pierced his heart. "I know. I know you're scared. And I am so sorry." Wade leaned his head against hers. Through the lump that had formed in his throat, he vowed "I promise, I will never hurt you like that again. Never." Looking her in the eye, Wade pleaded "Zoe, please forgive me. Give me a second chance. Give _us_ a second chance."

Zoe read the uncertainty in his eyes. He was just as scared as she was; afraid she would reject him. He really put himself out there, telling her how he felt, telling her he loved her. _Oh, God! He said he loves me! _Replaying his words in her mind, her eyes filled with tears again. She knew the words to say to him, had felt them in her heart for months, but was still too afraid to say them aloud. Instead, as her tears fell, she simply nodded her head, "Yes."

"Come here," Wade whispered tenderly as he cupped Zoe's face and gently wiped the tears from her eyes. He lowered his lips to hers in what he intended to be a sweet kiss, but when their lips touched, all the months of pent-up passion was released.

His kiss was deep, their tongues mating as surely as their bodies would be soon. Zoe turned her head aside, offering her neck to his kisses. Wade's mouth moved over her jaw then down her neck, making her body tingle with desire. Recapturing her mouth, Wade sunk his hands into her silky hair.

Zoe pressed closer, fitting her body to his. She heard Wade moan and suddenly his hands were everywhere, his caresses demanding. There was an urgency in his touch, yet he didn't make the next move. He was letting her set the pace. Feeling his need pressed hard against her, she slid her body up against his, hip to hip, causing both of them to gasp. She may not be ready to admit to him the depth of her feelings, but she was more than ready to show him. Stepping back from their embrace, Zoe took Wade's hand and led him to the bed.

In the afterglow of their lovemaking, they lay side by side, Zoe's head resting on Wade's out-stretched arm, each breathing heavily.

"What was _that_!?" Zoe asked, amazed that there was something even better than A+ sex, like A++++.

Wade chuckled, and rolled onto his side to face her. "_That_ was me being celibate for three months."

"Oh." Zoe said disappointedly as she turned to face him. "I guess I won't be experiencing that again." She giggled as she leaned in to kiss him.

Wade smiled and wrapped his arms around her as they kissed and went for round two.


End file.
